TO THE EXUMAS

Somewhere in the Bahamas

A ray at Highborne Cay. Photo by Remi Langlois.

It's hard to peel yourself away from a perfect anchorage and great friends -- especially when you don't know when you'll see them again, but we did it. We set off across the Bahama Bank for Highborne Cay today, an easy 5-hour trip but for the Yellow Bank. AAAHHHHH. That's a spray of coral heads partway across that has to be navigated visually lest you plow into a reef.

Once we reached the Yellow Bank, we realized we had left a little too early. The sun was still too low, and visibility was at best, 20 yards ahead. I stood on the bow struggling to see if we were about to crash into a reef.

Boy, I was REALLY mad at Chip for taking that photo instead of swinging to starboard.

If there had been a coral reef in our path, I think we would have hit it.  There was not. We passed through safely.

It was Casey and Remi's first time to be in open water with no land in sight on a clear and sparkling Bahamian day. Did we sail? Of course not. As our friend Annie says, there's always wind. It's just never in the direction you need. We nosed into a fresh breeze and reached Highborne Cay at 12:55. We set our anchor for the first time in the Exumas in front of a private beach next to a big, thriving reef.

This is NOT an aquarium. Photo by Remi Langlois.

Casey and Remi help out with provisions.

Highborne Cay doesn't offer much from land. We did take advantage of the small deserted beach in front of the boat, but the island is private. They will let you walk on the Exuma Sound side if you ask nicely. The marina is beautiful, but like the small grocery store, is tres cher (expensive) as we've been parling beaucoup de Français onboard. Casey and Remi, bien sur (of course) are fluent. I'm about five years old in French. Chip speaks fluent pretend French that makes us all laugh.

Beautiful marina at Highborne Cay, "high" meaning the prices.

You might recall I was planning a final provisioning run in Nassau before the kids arrived. They ended up hitching a ride to us, so here we are with what we have onboard -- almost nothing fresh. So, at the tiny store Remi snagged some eggs to make us a souffle, and we got cheddar, pineapple juice, two onions and bag of flour for $39.15.

We and our guests have settled into a comfortable routine. Casey and Remi are award-winning guests, respectful, helpful, action packed. All is well at Highborne Cay on Cara Mia.

Highborne Cay, Exumas 24º43.007N | 76º49.835W

Nice to have crew!

Remi paying the high price of conch prep.